3. Which rookie (or currently in AHL) will have the biggest impact this year?

....1. I'm one of Martin's biggest bashers, but I'm going to go out on a limb and say the guy finds his jockstrap this year. With Michalek gone, and Martin solidified on the second pairing, I going to predict he plays solid, positional hockey, logs a bunch of minutes, and maintains a top plus rating. Though it's possible this is just a prayer.

2. It's hard for me to single out one player here, as I kind of think that our collection of supporting forwards are going to struggle big time. That's Kunitz, Cooke, Kennedy, Dupuis, and even to a degree Sutter. My guess is that the pressure to contribute and perform over their heads will have them clenching their sticks all season long. This will be the Pens achilles heel, and no doubt we'll be talking about sitting some of these guys to give Tangradi, Jeffrey, Bennett a chance.

3. I say Tangradi earns a regular spot on the top 2 lines by the end of the season and shines in the playoffs. I also think Bennett will become Sid's winger down the line, but not until next season at the earliest. Despres will have a solid season for a rookie, but nothing spectacular.

Ture, I suppose I mean that their ability to handle that pressure will be diminished. Cooke is 34, Kunitz and Dupuis are 33. Adams is 35. The issue on the horizon is the change of guard for our supporting cast of forwards.

rookie~ s despressurprise~ GM RAy shero ready to roll the dice from the get-go. Shouldn't be a surprise, but last year was few changes; too few changes. Not this year!I hate choosing a dissapointment~ so I will not! Not today!

penny lane wrote:rookie~ s despressurprise~ GM RAy shero ready to roll the dice from the get-go. Shouldn't be a surprise, but last year was few changes; too few changes. Not this year!I hate choosing a dissapointment~ so I will not! Not today!

Biggest surprise - Dupuis, who has been itching for a full season with 87.Biggest disappointment - Sutter, we will expect him to be Staal.Rookie: B. Bennett, I'm negative here and this is process of elimination.

Dupuis the biggest dissapointment? No. Lest we forget he shined last year and is not "over the hill" yet. Plus, at least for the start of the sesaon, he has the longest current point streak in the NHL. How many of y'all remembered that?

i was just curious about his goal scoring. i have nothing against him - i'm actually hoping he'll be the last piece of the top 6 this year. but i was surprised at his goal output. 6 total. 4 even strength. bad linemates? bad luck?

Big Easy Pens Fan wrote:Dupuis the biggest dissapointment? No. Lest we forget he shined last year and is not "over the hill" yet. Plus, at least for the start of the sesaon, he has the longest current point streak in the NHL. How many of y'all remembered that?

BEPF

I'm one of the biggest Dupuis fans, but I can see him being a disappointment this season (compared to last years numbers). He seems like the type of guy who really thrives on the long season and out hustling other players once the season becomes a grind. In a shortened season I can see this being much more of a sprint to the playoffs and so he wouldn't have that edge.

Tangradi has 1 goal in his past 17 games with the baby pens. he's never ever shown any offensive abilly with the big club and has had a ton of chances. if he is getting regular playing time we are in trouble.

Jeffrey deserves a chance and has shown much more upside than any other young player thus far.